Why Andrea Riseborough Should Win An Oscar For “To Leslie”

Momentum has been growing within the industry for Andrea Riseborough to win an Academy Award for Best Performance in the incredibly powerful To Leslie.

Three months ago, Riseborough’s name wasn’t been mentioned while others such as Michelle Williams in Steven Spielberg’s The Fablemans and Ana De Armas for Blonde were being hotly tipped for the movie industry’s biggest acting prize.

But on the back of some big names shouting from the rafters to have Riseborough added to the Oscars hat, and a grassroots campaign to see her moving performance championed, the Tyne & Wear born actor has joined Williams, Armas, Cate Blanchett and Michelle Yeoh as nominees for Best Actress at the 2023 Academy Awards.

Why does Andrea Riseborough deserve the best actor Oscar?

Andrea Riseborough’s performance in To Leslie was immediately met with praise (“The movie belongs to Riseborough, who in the second half comes alive, scene by scene, like a flower slowly uncrumpling,” says Owen Gleiberman). But the film didn’t enjoy a wide release. Indeed, attention for it has remained minimal. That is until the Oscars hoopla got “watch To Leslie” trending on Google.

Now that the film’s lead is getting deserved recognition for her performance, the film is receiving renewed attention too. Inspired by true events, Riseborough plays a West Texas single mother who, having won the lottery but squandered the money, finds herself an alcoholic trying to ignore the fallout of her transgressions. When a job opportunity arises at a motel, she appears to seek redemption.

Peter Travers, writing for ABC News, someone who hadn’t given the film the time of day before Riseborough received her Oscar nomination, was quick to put that right and simply said in his consequent review: “Prepare to be wowed!”

He added: “Whether or not Riseborough pulls off a longshot victory at the Oscars, she’s created a portrayal that plays like a classic country song you can’t get out of your head and heart. In a movie rescued from oblivion, Riseborough is unmissable and unforgettable.”

The film, which also stars Allison Janney, Stephen Root, James Landry Hebert, Andre Royo and Owen Teague, also marks the directing debut of Michael Morris.

Like Leslie “Lee” Rowlands in the film, Riseborough’s incredible emergence from obscurity to Oscar contender is one of the reasons why it would be great to see her defy the industry’s major studio-influenced power grab of the Oscar nominations.

She also deserves it for what is, says Empire’s Iana Murray, an “award-worthy performance” from an “exceptional” talent. She also has the backing of her peers. Susan Sarandon, Helen Hunt, Zooey Deschanel, Melanie Lynskey, Mira Sorvino, Constance Zimmer, Rosie O’Donnell, Minnie Driver, Alan Cumming, Daphne Zuniga, Tan France, Jenny McCarthy, Frances Fisher, Rosanna Arquette and Debra Winger have all sung her praises.

Riseborough said, on hearing of her nomination, that she feels so much “warmth” because of the “support of my community, which at the end of the day, is what we all aspire for.” She adds, “I think in whichever industry we’re in, it’s a marker of achievement when the people you admire appreciate something you’ve been part of.”

How to watch “To Leslie”

You can watch To Leslie in the UK on a variety of streaming platforms including Amazon Prime Video. It is also available to rent or purchase through Apple TV+, YouTube and Google Play.

Riseborough, who found out she was nominated for the Academy Award on January 24, told Deadline of her delight, saying it was an “unexpected ray of light”.

She continued: “It was so hard to believe it might ever happen because we really hadn’t been in the running for anything else. Even though we had a lot of support, the idea it might actually happen seemed so far away.”

Having enjoyed the praise of a number of contemporaries, it was perhaps Kate Winslet’s words that’ll give Riseborough the most joy. The Titanic star said it was the “greatest female performance on-screen I have ever seen in my life”.

Meanwhile, Gwyneth Paltrow called To Leslie a “masterpiece” and revealed she was “stunned” by Riseborough’s central performance. She said it deserves “to win every award there is and all the ones that haven’t been invented yet.”